University of North Texas Athletics
Photo by: Zach Del Bello / Mean Green Sports
Mean Green Faithful Welcome Brown to Denton
12/8/2025 2:43:00 PM | Football
DENTON, Texas – Neal Brown knew there was a possibility he'd see Monday's events transpiring way back in the spring.
So when the 21st head football coach in North Texas history was introduced to a large crowd of Mean Green fans in the HUB Club at DATCU Stadium on Monday, Brown laid out the process that led him to Denton.
From a big picture perspective, Brown said he and his wife, Brooke, began laying out possible jobs that could open up after the 2025 season and which ones they'd be comfortable with in terms of setting family roots and raising their children in.
"You start in the spring thinking of potential jobs where we know people and it makes sense for our family, and this was absolutely one of them, at North Texas," Brown said. "We weren't going to consider places that weren't quality places for a 14-year old and 10-year old to continue their upbringing."
Brown, who will be 46 years old in March and has spent 17 years in college football with 10 of those as a head coach, said he and Brooke see this upcoming journey to Denton as the second half of his career.
"We've played the first half," Brown said. "There's some really good memories and now we enter the second half of a head coaching career and we're ready. We're more energized than we've ever been. The (administrative) alignment here was critical and the resources available were critical, but from a family perspective – our oldest will be going to college but giving our 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son a place that's a great place to live with quality schools, with things to do, and quality athletic programs for them to be a part of, whether it's club soccer or baseball. This area has it all. This is one of the best places to live in the entire country."
Brown spent the 2025 season with the Texas Longhorns as the Special Assistant to Head Coach Steve Sarkisian, but prior to that, Brown was the head coach for six seasons at West Virginia and for four seasons at Troy. He was also the offensive coordinator at Kentucky, Texas Tech and Troy.
Vice President of Athletics Jared Mosley said Brown's diverse coaching resume – being both at the highest level in power conferences and in places with more limited resources and having success in both realms was a big selling point.
But Mosley said Brown's specific plan for success stuck out immediately for him and thrust his name to the forefront of a coaching search that had a long list of impressive names in the running.
Mosley said this search was far different than the one three years ago that brought Eric Morris to Denton and set off this current flood of momentum that saw UNT win 11 games for the first time in program history, be ranked in the AP poll for the first time since the 1950s and crack the College Football Playoff Rankings for the first time ever.
"It was very evident early (that Brown was the guy)," Mosley said. "He had a very articulate plan. That's not something that's tailored to somewhere else he's been. It was tailored specifically to this moment in time at North Texas and the opportunities we have ahead of us and just the amazing things that are starting to align for us to have successful programs consistently."
Brown said he's excited to lead a program in Texas, not only because of the quality of life perks that come from living in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, but from a football perspective. Brown mentioned the sheer volume of talent in both high school recruits and the high school coaches in this state preparing their players to play at the highest level and how both are unmatched anywhere else in the country. He harkened back to his three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech from 2010-12 as the time he realized just how special football in the Lone Star State is.
"At the time, I'd spent most of my career on the east coast, and to be able to get here to Texas – once you recruit, and anybody that has any coaching background will understand this, not only high school football but just athletics at the high school level in the state of Texas is set up and invested in here better than anyone else in the country. To have that experience and being in those schools for those three years and forming those relationships with the high school coaches and the people who are developing those student-athletes, especially in the Metroplex and East Texas and Central Texas into Houston, to have those connections and being able to renew those relationships over the past year (while at Texas), it gives us a leg up.
"We're ready to get started. Our main recruiting base is right here at home and other than maybe going to Oklahoma, we won't go outside the state borders for high school football players."
While he's already thinking of the best avenue for securing the top high school talent in the area, Brown said his top priority at the moment is recruiting the players who are already on campus and have been so pivotal in getting the university on the map with the Mean Green's historic season on the football field.
"We had a team meeting this morning," Brown said. "It was very gracious of them to give me their time. It was quick. Here's my approach on this: This 2025 season is not done. This 2025 team is getting ready to go to New Mexico and play a really good San Diego State team two days after Christmas and go get a 12th win. That's their team. I'm not a part of that yet. I just want to be around them. My main goal with that team is just to build relationships. They all start with a clean slate with me and I asked them for the opportunity to get to know them. I want to know their story and their background and I want them to know what's important to me and what makes me click. That's the main thing is getting to know them over these next couple of weeks. My main priority with the players on campus is connecting and building relationships."
So when the 21st head football coach in North Texas history was introduced to a large crowd of Mean Green fans in the HUB Club at DATCU Stadium on Monday, Brown laid out the process that led him to Denton.
From a big picture perspective, Brown said he and his wife, Brooke, began laying out possible jobs that could open up after the 2025 season and which ones they'd be comfortable with in terms of setting family roots and raising their children in.
"You start in the spring thinking of potential jobs where we know people and it makes sense for our family, and this was absolutely one of them, at North Texas," Brown said. "We weren't going to consider places that weren't quality places for a 14-year old and 10-year old to continue their upbringing."
Brown, who will be 46 years old in March and has spent 17 years in college football with 10 of those as a head coach, said he and Brooke see this upcoming journey to Denton as the second half of his career.
"We've played the first half," Brown said. "There's some really good memories and now we enter the second half of a head coaching career and we're ready. We're more energized than we've ever been. The (administrative) alignment here was critical and the resources available were critical, but from a family perspective – our oldest will be going to college but giving our 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son a place that's a great place to live with quality schools, with things to do, and quality athletic programs for them to be a part of, whether it's club soccer or baseball. This area has it all. This is one of the best places to live in the entire country."
Brown spent the 2025 season with the Texas Longhorns as the Special Assistant to Head Coach Steve Sarkisian, but prior to that, Brown was the head coach for six seasons at West Virginia and for four seasons at Troy. He was also the offensive coordinator at Kentucky, Texas Tech and Troy.
Vice President of Athletics Jared Mosley said Brown's diverse coaching resume – being both at the highest level in power conferences and in places with more limited resources and having success in both realms was a big selling point.
But Mosley said Brown's specific plan for success stuck out immediately for him and thrust his name to the forefront of a coaching search that had a long list of impressive names in the running.
Mosley said this search was far different than the one three years ago that brought Eric Morris to Denton and set off this current flood of momentum that saw UNT win 11 games for the first time in program history, be ranked in the AP poll for the first time since the 1950s and crack the College Football Playoff Rankings for the first time ever.
"It was very evident early (that Brown was the guy)," Mosley said. "He had a very articulate plan. That's not something that's tailored to somewhere else he's been. It was tailored specifically to this moment in time at North Texas and the opportunities we have ahead of us and just the amazing things that are starting to align for us to have successful programs consistently."
Brown said he's excited to lead a program in Texas, not only because of the quality of life perks that come from living in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, but from a football perspective. Brown mentioned the sheer volume of talent in both high school recruits and the high school coaches in this state preparing their players to play at the highest level and how both are unmatched anywhere else in the country. He harkened back to his three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech from 2010-12 as the time he realized just how special football in the Lone Star State is.
"At the time, I'd spent most of my career on the east coast, and to be able to get here to Texas – once you recruit, and anybody that has any coaching background will understand this, not only high school football but just athletics at the high school level in the state of Texas is set up and invested in here better than anyone else in the country. To have that experience and being in those schools for those three years and forming those relationships with the high school coaches and the people who are developing those student-athletes, especially in the Metroplex and East Texas and Central Texas into Houston, to have those connections and being able to renew those relationships over the past year (while at Texas), it gives us a leg up.
"We're ready to get started. Our main recruiting base is right here at home and other than maybe going to Oklahoma, we won't go outside the state borders for high school football players."
While he's already thinking of the best avenue for securing the top high school talent in the area, Brown said his top priority at the moment is recruiting the players who are already on campus and have been so pivotal in getting the university on the map with the Mean Green's historic season on the football field.
"We had a team meeting this morning," Brown said. "It was very gracious of them to give me their time. It was quick. Here's my approach on this: This 2025 season is not done. This 2025 team is getting ready to go to New Mexico and play a really good San Diego State team two days after Christmas and go get a 12th win. That's their team. I'm not a part of that yet. I just want to be around them. My main goal with that team is just to build relationships. They all start with a clean slate with me and I asked them for the opportunity to get to know them. I want to know their story and their background and I want them to know what's important to me and what makes me click. That's the main thing is getting to know them over these next couple of weeks. My main priority with the players on campus is connecting and building relationships."
NEAL BROWN INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE
Thursday, December 04
Eric Morris Weekly Press Conference vs. Tulane | Mean Green FB
Tuesday, December 02
Broadcast Highlights vs Temple | Mean Green Football
Saturday, November 29
Postgame Press Conference | UNT vs. Temple
Saturday, November 29